Friday, March 28, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.
In a surreal moment that major league players get accustomed to quickly, new Dodgers first baseman Fred McGriff saw something he liked after Thursday night's exhibition game at Cashman Field.
Himself.
Scarfing a plate of lasagna as he sat before a cubicle in a tiny clubhouse, his teammates quickly stopped or dropped what they were doing when a cable television network segued into a Dodgers feature on McGriff.
"Who's this guy?" said one Dodger. "What's this?" said another as a chorus melded.
"It's a beautiful, handsome guy," said a smiling McGriff as he stood up, turned around and took a few steps into another room.
That broke up the room, showing the comfort level McGriff has struck with his new teammates in six weeks of spring training.
Based on how well McGriff has been doing, Dodger Stadium fans might quickly forget about Eric Karros, the mainstay at first base who was shipped to Chicago in the offseason.
McGriff entered Thursday's game against Colorado with a .400 batting average, a .700 slugging percentage and four home runs, including a grand slam in Wednesday's game against Atlanta.
Against the Rockies, he belted a two-run double in the sixth inning that gave the Dodgers a one-run lead lead. In the eighth, Ron Coomer drove in an insurance run in the Dodgers' 5-3 victory over Colorado before a crowd of 9,966.
"To me, I just have to go out and perform," McGriff said. "Karros did a great job here, and he was here for a lot of years. He was a fan favorite. Stuff like that is out of my control. I can't control the Dodgers' front-office decisions. All I can do is try to play my game.
"Hopefully, the fans will enjoy watching me play."
Dodgers manager Jim Tracy will have McGriff hit fifth in the batting order Monday afternoon in the season opener against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
That, however, will be an anomaly, because 6-foot-10 ace lefty Randy Johnson will start for Arizona. Tracy wants to give Johnson different looks, with lefty slugger Shawn Green batting third and the right-handed-hitting Brian Jordan in the cleanup spot.
The rest of the time, Tracy will ink McGriff in the cleanup position, after Green.
"He will change what other teams have to do with Shawn Green," Tracy said. "And that will give us a strong situation in the middle of the order. Fred's doing a fine job."
McGriff, who will turn 40 on Oct. 31, had entertained offers from other teams for two months after last season ended before signing a one-year deal, for $3.75 million, with the Dodgers on Dec. 20.
"I knew I wanted to win," he said. "I was trying to find a good spot, where I felt I'd have a chance to win. The Dodgers played well last year. Hopefully, we can play just as well this year.
"Over the years, they've had a great organization. Next to the Yankees, they've been one of the top organizations around. They've always had good, competitive teams over the years. So it was intriguing."
Among first basemen, only Mark McGwire (566), Lou Gehrig (493) and Jimmie Foxx (482) have slugged more home runs than McGriff (449).
In 1992, he became the second player in the 20th century to have led both leagues in homers when he hit 35 for the San Diego Padres. With the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989, McGriff led the American League with 36 homers.
"He's a great addition to our team," Green said. "He's a left-handed hitter with power, and he'll give other teams problems."
Colorado starter Jason Jennings, the 2002 rookie of the year in the National League, had only yielded a Brian Jordan solo home run Thursday night until the sixth. Dave Roberts and Paul LoDuca started an uprising with walks, and Green doubled in Roberts.
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle lifted Jennings, and McGriff smacked the second pitch from reliever Nelson Cruz against the wall in right field.
"Well, you always have to tinker," McGriff said. "During the season, you tinker and mess around, always trying to make yourself a better player. I feel good, right now, and we'll start the season and see what happens.
"It's a good bunch of guys, there are good people in the organization and it's a good coaching staff."
That image McGriff caught on the television screen late Thursday night wasn't so bad, either.
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